Moo in Our Midst

Moo in Our Midst

The cover feature of our sister publication this month takes a look at the wide-ranging ministry of Heifer International, which grew from the small idea of an Indiana Brethren to a global enterprise with a huge budget and projects in more than 50 countries.

Messenger editor and writer Walt Wiltscheck, while harboring an aversion to all manner of vegetables, has a certain fondness for bovines. Perhaps this explains his affection for Heifer International and their mission.

Dixie Chicks to Draw in New Members at Annual Conference

The Programming and Arrangements Committee, facing the displeasure of some members of the Church of the Brethren for not allowing BMC to have a dialogue session, announced today that the Dixie Chicks will be performing a concert at Annual Conference this year. Members of Kindling, who are getting their feet wet in the country western milieu with their latest song "Stand by Your Domestic Partner of Non-Specific Gender and Sexual Orientation," are said to have given them advice on what things are better off not being said if you want to be re-invited to Annual Conference. Considering their upcoming cover on Entertainment Weekly, we wonder if Programming and Arrangements Committee realize that the Dixie Chicks are not part of a fund raiser for Heifer Project from the south?

Meanwhile, a group of singers from a congregation in the Atlantic Northeast District is suffering from the patriotic backlash unleashed by the once popular country western group. The barbershop quartet "The Dixie Chiques" has inexplicably seen bookings cancelled over the past few months. "It all started after singer Natalie Maines spoke out at a London concert last month," said Don Fitzkee who is one quarter of the group. He did not go on to clarify whether or not the quartet supports President Bush's policies.